How Jaguars Plan on Defending Against Bengals' Joe Burrow

Jacksonville's D wasn't exactly a strong point for the team last season, giving up the second-most yards and sixth-most points in the league en route to a 4-13 record. However, with the arrivals of several promising new pieces, including Jourdan Lewis, Eric Murray, and Travis Hunter Jr., there was hope that this unit could be much stingier in Defensive Coordinator Anthony Campanile's first year on the sidelines.

Week 1 was incredibly encouraging, but the Jaguars face a much tougher test in their next game, going up against Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and the rest of the Cincinnati Bengals' offense on the road. This clash should be extremely telling for both sides of the ball, as well as for the capabilities of DC Campanile and Head Coach Liam Coen.

How do the Jaguars plan to defend against Joe Burrow?

The Cincinnati Bengals have playoff aspirations this season, largely behind the strength of their core offense, featuring quarterback Joe Burrow, running back Chase Brown, and two star wideouts in Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. They were able to escape Week 1 with a divisional win over the Cleveland Browns, but just barely skated by with a 17-16 victory.

Cleveland's defensive performance gives hope that the Jacksonville Jaguars can contain Cincinnati, too. However, Head Coach Liam Coen knows how dangerous the Bengals' offense can be, especially when Burrow is clicking:

"His ability to create is elite. The accuracy, the pinpoint of it, his ability to put balls in tight spaces, give those guys opportunities. He knows them so well and what they do well and how they want the ball thrown to them. It's clear that they have chemistry even when last week's output wasn't maybe as much as they've been used to, you can still see that there were some moments where it was like, woah, that was pretty good. So, it's a huge challenge for us."

Jaguars will need to put pressure on Joe Burrow

Cincinnati's strength on offense is buoyed mostly by the talent of its skill players. The Bengals' offensive line is quite suspect, which could open up opportunities for Jacksonville to keep them in check through the pass-rush. However, blitzing Burrow consistently isn't a great strategy either, according to Coen:

"He can get it out. You’ve got to take some of the air out of the coverage, and it's hard to give him a ton of space, but it's feast or famine. You go up and press him, you get too much on him, who knows what it could be, and it's just one of those combinations. He's a smart player, he knows how to get to zero audibles and checks and understands the game. So, it's going to be a little bit of a chess match.”

This Week 2 showdown will be a fantastic litmus test for what Liam Coen, Anthony Campanile, and the Jaguars' defense can do this season. If they can properly limit Joe Burrow and the Bengals' offense, it'll bode extremely well for their prospects of being a top unit this year.